HD7970 vs GTX670 (specifically these two models)

[Jackeduphard]

I guess they use the "second coming" line differently in your country. I'm not hating on the 7970 because of how "some people" make it out to be. I'm going by my personal experience reinforced by seeing that many many others have had the exact same issues. Again if you haven't had problems good for you but personally I think they're a fucking disaster. It's probably all software but at this pace it'll take a year for those issues to be sorted out. Where as nvidia is already testing the fix for the single major bug I've seen - the vsync stuttering. And as you pointed out, given the release times for the respective cards it's very telling which company you can expect better driver support from.

A 79X0 card just isn't a smart buy. I try telling people. They buy the cards anyways, they have instant problems and go back and buy nvidia. This has been my personal experience thus far. I'm sure there's plenty of people that have had a more positive experience.

I think you might be a troll ... and strait bleeding blue.

I have a 670 ...(well just bought)

I had the Diamond 7970 and the thing was rock sold. There were no issue in performance in the sense you are hinting and bludgeoning over and over. I got rid of it because there was to much noise and I did not want to put a water block on it ... other then that it was ROCK solid and KICK the butt out of every game it hit... all on my Samsung 305t @ 2560x1600 rez ... only bad PC ports and such, were the only thing i ever had to tweak to get it work right ... I got the 670 purly because of the heat/power/noise it puts out.

thats my 00.02$


Add 1:
I was going to buy a 580 gtx ... just to wait it out .. u know ? why not great card can be had @ 250$-280$ right now ... rock solid ... that thing wounded like a JET WAS taking off in my room every time it got worm ... So for some that would be fine and @ that cost might be great u know.

 

[Anusha]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was sleeping. XD

To clear up some facts.
1. I'm fed up of Crossfire ( they are not unlocked anymore. Too much heat for virtually no gains)
2. I have a single 1080p screen. Don't see upgrading that for a foreseeable future.
3. Both cards are priced similarly. GTX 670 is newer, thus much expensive than it's MSRP in Japan. ~43k yen for HD7970 and ~42k yen for 670 Jetstream.
4. I also thought NVidia was a no brainier when it came to drivers, BUT I am hearing so many problems with the 300 series drivers mostly with stuttering, which is a major problem with my CFX setup right now.

 

[Jackeduphard]

if you dont plan on going 3 screen set up then do your self a favor for it being more quiet and not as much heat ... do a 670 like i did

 

[20mmrain]

Well I have owned both cards and the performance is pretty much the same too me really, the HD7970 overclocked more for me though, temps were about the same (60C - 69C) but fan was louder being a reference design

In certain games the HD7970 ran a bit more smoother like Metro 2033 and BF3 ran a bit more smoother with the GTX 670

TBH I would go which ever is cheaper which I'm guessing is the GTX 670, both cards are great either way

What Lionheart says is true..... I have owned both the GTX 680 and HD 7970 in Multi-card setup.
The HD 7970 will loose to the GTX 680 in stock vs stock situations. But in overclocking situations the Hd 7970 wins 9 times out of 10. (Unless you have a dud card)

Both cards run about the same in temps. Both cards have their draw backs. I would honestly boil it down to this....If you Game and also benchmark.... then you want the HD 7970 it will get you further.
But if you are one who games and only uses your cards at stock clocks or close to stock clocks. Then the GTX 670/680 would be better for you. Mostly the GTX 670 because of it's price point. Although the extra.... money in the 680 means higher guaranteed clocks/performance.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Even if price were same I'd go with the 670. Great out of box performance, great OCing, great temp and noise levels, nice new features, SLI is better than Xfire, and I happen to think Nvidia's driver support overall is better.

When it comes to drivers specifically you really can't make decisions based on knee jerk reactions. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE has driver problems with their hardware at one time or another. What it comes down to is whom is most consistent at getting you working drivers in an expedient fashion. From my experience after owning both ATI and Nvidia product, Nvidia are consistently better at getting problems ironed out quickly, and have fewer to begin with.

 

[Jackeduphard]

go for what ever is going to save you the most money even 10$ or 1000 yen ...

 

[20mmrain]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was sleeping. XD

To clear up some facts.
1. I'm fed up of Crossfire ( they are not unlocked anymore. Too much heat for virtually no gains)
2. I have a single 1080p screen. Don't see upgrading that for a foreseeable future.
3. Both cards are priced similarly. GTX 670 is newer, thus much expensive than it's MSRP in Japan. ~43k yen for HD7970 and ~42k yen for 670 Jetstream.
4. I also thought NVidia was a no brainier when it came to drivers, BUT I am hearing so many problems with the 300 series drivers mostly with stuttering, which is a major problem with my CFX setup right now.

Wanting to try something else besides crossfire.... I can understand... but what do you mean Xfire is not unlocked anymore. It never was locked..... I can do anything with those cards(HD 7000 series in Xfire). More in terms of voltage and clocks then the 600 series. Those cards are locked down more then the HD 7000 series. (Not that they are not good cards that can still overclock very well on what voltage they have)

As far as the drivers.... I think the majority of that comes from the end user. I have not had any problems with both sides drivers this gen. And I own a lot of different games, benches, and applications that my cards are used on.

I did not experience any micro stutter from both companies this gen.

Both the cards are priced similarly. But the HD 7970 (Besides benchmarks Stock vs stock) beats the GTX 670. Just a fact. The GTX 670 is a great card but it was originally conceived to be a mid level card.. same with the GTX 680.... and you can tell when comparing the difference between the 7970 and the GTX 680/670. Regardless if you are getting similar performance from the 3.

Call me crazy.... but GTX 670 vs HD7970 (No price involved) I would go with the HD 7970 it's just the better card. But if price is a concern.... go with the GTX 670.

GTX 680 vs HD 7970 (No Price involved) I would say it's a tie... in terms of pro's and cons. And it comes down to personal preference that's all.
But if price is a factor I would go with the HD 7970.

This is an honest no fanboy influenced advice from someone who has played extensively with all of the cards mentioned.

 

[Nordic]

Wanting to try something else besides crossfire.... I can understand... but what do you mean Xfire is not unlocked anymore. It never was locked..... I can do anything with those cards. More in terms of voltage and clocks the the 600 series. Those cards are locked down more then the HD 7000 series. (Not that they are not good cards that can still overclock very well on what voltage they have)

As far as the drivers.... I think the majority of that comes from the end user. I have not had any problems with both sides drivers this gen. And I own a lot of different games, benches, and applications that my cards are used on.

I did not experience any micro stutter from both companies this gen.

Both the cards are priced similarly. But the HD 7970 (Besides benchmarks Stock vs stock) beats the GTX 670. Just a fact. The GTX 670 is a great card but it was originally conceived to be a mid level card.. same with the GTX 680.... and you can tell when comparing the difference between the 7970 and the GTX 680/670. Regardless if you are getting similar performance from the two.

Call me crazy.... but GTX 670 vs HD7970 (No price involved) I would go with the HD 7970 it's just the better card. But if price is a concern.... go with the GTX 670.

GTX 680 vs HD 7970 (No Price involved) I would say it's a tie... in terms of pro's and cons. And it comes down to personal preference that's all.
But if price is a factor I would go with the HD 7970.

This is an honest no fanboy influenced advice from someone who has played extensively with all of the cards mentioned.

What would "you" say the pros and cons of each are?

 

[20mmrain]

What would "you" say the pros and cons of each are?

HD7970 Pros:
Overclocks Higher
Higher software voltage allowance
Clock for clock faster then the 680/670
3 GB memory
Core Clocks don't down clock @ 70c
Cool Temps ( 65c Load single card )
Better compute performance
Scales better in Xfire
Zero core technology
Eyefinity
PCIe 3.0 Support cross the board
Will reach clocks of 1300Mhz or higher regularly.

HD7970 Cons:
Price
Bracket around physical GPU causes hard to find aftermarket cooling that is compatible.
Annoying to overclock in multi GPU configs you need to "ENABLEULPS"
Voltage capped @ 1.3v
AMD HD3D is horrible and hard to enable
I believe Drivers are holding back it's performance(Not saying there are stuttering issues or anything like that)
Comes underclocked. (Example new HD 7970 1ghz edition) This card should be clocked higher from the get go.
Fan louder

GTX 680 Pros:
Faster then the HD 7970 stock vs stock (Reference vs Reference)
Will get higher overclock then GTX 670
Core down clocking when not needed for performance is great.
Core will also automatically overclock (Even on reference card) if performance is needed.
Nvidia 3D SUrround
Cool temps @ Stock with 85% fan (58c to 60c load single card)
Doesn't need much voltage to overclock well.
Easy to find aftermarket cooling
Responds great to Anti-Aliasing
Smaller physical foot print the HD 7970
Uses less power the HD 7970 at load.
If water cooled Temps are extremely low.

GTX 680 Cons:
Low stock anywhere
Will down clock itself @ 70c on air cooling (Even if power limiter is up all the way) This causes higher sustainable clocks to be harder to maintain on while air cooling.
No way to turn off the offset clocks
Voltage locked @ 1.175v (Software) ....This card would overclock much higher if allowed more voltage.
Fan locked @ 85%
5 phase was crippled before release to 4 Phase on (reference models)
Most will not reach Core clocks of 1250Mhz (1300 Mhz is a gem card)
PCIe 3.0 not enabled on X79 boards (Have not tested since 301.42 Driver release)
SLI not scaling as well as Crossfire
Price

GTX 670 Pros:
Price
Faster then the HD 7970 stock vs stock (Reference vs Reference) in benchmarks and certain games.
Core down clocking when not needed for performance is great.
Core will also automatically overclock (Even on reference card) if performance is needed.
Nvidia 3D SUrround
Cool temps @ Stock with 85% fan (58c to 60c load single card)
Doesn't need much voltage to overclock well.
Easy to find aftermarket cooling
Responds great to Anti-Aliasing
Smaller physical foot print the HD 7970 and GTX 680
Uses less power the HD 7970 at load.

GTX 670 Cons:
Low stock anywhere (But better then GTX 680)
Locked cores not full GK104 chip
Is not guaranteed to reach clocks as fast as HD 7970 or GTX 680
Will down clock itself @ 70c on air cooling (Even if power limiter is up all the way) This causes higher sustainable clocks to be harder to maintain on while air cooling.
No way to turn off the offset clocks
Voltage locked @ 1.175v (Software)....This card would overclock much higher if allowed more voltage.
Fan locked @ 85%
5 phase was crippled before release to 4 Phase on (reference models)
Most will not reach Core clocks of 1250Mhz (1300 Mhz is a gem card)
PCIe 3.0 not enabled on X79 boards (Have not tested since 301.42 Driver release)
SLI not scaling as well as Crossfire

As you can see IMO they are pretty evenly matched. I am not showing favoritism for either card. I own 2 GTX 680's currently and I love them! I am not giving them up right now for the world! But the places where the HD 7970 excels you won't notice the difference. The place where the GTX 680/670 excels you won't notice the difference.
The only areas you will notice a difference is in specialized fields.... like folding or benchmarking. Or if battlefield 3 is your favorite game. Even then in all of these examples.... it will be very minimal. Especially in the real world. I say you will be happy Any way you go. There is no loosing in your choice my friend. If you go Nvidia... then you will be happy. If you go AMD you will be happy. I just wanted to bring this out.... so there were no misconceptions.

 

[Anusha]

Wanting to try something else besides crossfire.... I can understand... but what do you mean Xfire is not unlocked anymore. It never was locked..... I can do anything with those cards(HD 7000 series in Xfire).

Sorry. What I meant was, I reverted the shader unlock. These 1GB cards can be unlocked easily. Just wasn't worth the power bill especially for hardly any performance leap. (only 200 points in 3DMark11)

So if Ii am going the Hd7970 route, can you recommend me getting a non-reference card? (cooler I mean) they are substantially pricier. Remember, the gtx670 jetstream runs at gtx680 clocks and is identical to gtx680 performance. I don't mind overclocking the card a single bit, but I am afraid I might get a dud card that cannot do even 1GHz. I have been unlucky in the past with graphic card OCing.

One more important thing though. I hear that some cooler designs (due to their heatpipe arrangements) don't work well when installed vertically. I have a RV03 and I wonder if the cooler on the jetstream fits into that category or not. Last thing I want is a custom designed cooler that perform worse than the reference cooler.

Edit: checked the hd7970 prices. None of the none-reference models are worth at their prices. They are all over 50000 yen. Means USD600 or more. So it comes down to this. PowerColor Reference 7970 or Palit GTX670 JetStream. Reference GTX670 can be bought for 40000 yen, but I would pay 2000 more for a faster, cooler, quieter non-ref model.

Edit2: just found HIS iceQ x2 (non-turbo model) for 47000. Still, that is about USD600.

 

[Nordic]

Sorry. What I meant was, I reverted the shader unlock. These 1GB cards can be unlocked easily. Just wasn't worth the power bill especially for hardly any performance leap. (only 200 points in 3DMark11)

So if Ii am going the Hd7970 route, can you recommend me getting a non-reference card? (cooler I mean) they are substantially pricier. Remember, the gtx670 jetstream runs at gtx680 clocks and is identical to gtx680 performance. I don't mind overclocking the card a single bit, but I am afraid I might get a dud card that cannot do even 1GHz. I have been unlucky in the past with graphic card OCing.

One more important thing though. I hear that some cooler designs (due to their heatpipe arrangements) don't work well when installed vertically. I have a RV03 and I wonder if the cooler on the jetstream fits into that category or not. Last thing I want is a custom designed cooler that perform worse than the reference cooler.

Edit: checked the hd7970 prices. None of the none-reference models are worth at their prices. They are all over 50000 yen. Means USD600 or more. So it comes down to this. PowerColor Reference 7970 or Palit GTX670 JetStream. Reference GTX670 can be bought for 40000 yen, but I would pay 2000 more for a faster, cooler, quieter non-ref model.

Edit2: just found HIS iceQ x2 (non-turbo model) for 47000. Still, that is about USD600.

In your case the palit seems to be the best choice.

 

[Anusha]

In your case the palit seems to be the best choice.

Do you think the card's orientation will have adverse effects on cooling performance? From what I can see, you really need to keep the card below 70C if you don't want any kind of throttling.

 

[Anusha]

This thread should have an AMD v NVIDIA poll for these two cards. My money's on NVIDIA winning.

i just added a poll. but i guess it is too late now. most people are voting for the GTX670.

 

[DarkOCean]

"If prices were same, which one would you buy?" 7970 but since they are not gtx670.

 

[Anusha]

"If prices were same, which one would you buy?" 7970 but since they are not gtx670.

What do you have against GTX670? This is reference vs factory overclocked we are talking about. GTX670 JetStream is about as fast as a stock GTX680. Sure, that lessens the GTX670's overclocking headroom, and HD7970 will overclock pretty well too, BUT I do not want to bet on the silicone lottery because I have been so unfortunate with it in the past.

 

[DarkOCean]

What do you have against GTX670? This is reference vs factory overclocked we are talking about. GTX670 JetStream is about as fast as a stock GTX680. Sure, that lessens the GTX670's overclocking headroom, and HD7970 will overclock pretty well too, BUT I do not want to bet on the silicone lottery because I have been so unfortunate with it in the past.

dont have against GTX670 but i would choose 7970 because it oc more,extra 1gb of vram etc but as i said the price is not the same so in this case i would choose the 670 instead.

 

[Anusha]

Anyways, I'm going to pay a visit to the local stores and see if there are any special deals on either cards. Sometimes you don't see them online. And sometimes not all the cards are listed online.

 

[Crap Daddy]

You can check Wizz's review on the Palit:

This is compared to reference 7970. You choose. Overclocking a reference 7970 brings more noise and heat and power consumption (if that matters) - around 100W more than a 680/670 at the same clocks. You know what to expect from AMD drivers since now you can check the NV side.

 

[Anusha]

You can check Wizz's review on the Palit:

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_670_Jet_Stream/images/perfrel_1920.gif

This is compared to reference 7970. You choose. Overclocking a reference 7970 brings more noise and heat and power consumption (if that matters) - around 100W more than a 680/670 at the same clocks. You know what to expect from AMD drivers since now you can check the NV side.

i bought the Palit GTX670 JetStream. Now time to run some benches and play some games.